EXCERPT

THE SECRET OF THE

CHATTER BLOCKS a Toy Mystery gamebook by Don Bosco Copyright 2017 Don Bosco / Super Cool Books

CONTENTS

About this gamebook Who's who New Toy-ko City Start here Author

NOTE: This gamebook will only be available in EPUB format. The PDF layout you see here is only for this preview version.

ABOUT THIS GAMEBOOK This is a work of fiction. Everything’s made up. Just for fun. This is also a gamebook. You choose what happens. There are a few different endings. Story: Kei and Will are students at the School of Amusement Arts in New Toy-ko City. They help Professor Felicity Nora investigate unusual cases involving toys and puzzles. A rare set of Chatter Blocks has been stolen. These Blocks talk when you roll them like dice. Help Kei and Will catch the thief and recover the Blocks.

But careful, the Perplexity Gang is involved!

WHO'S WHO Kei . Fifth Year girl at the School of Amusement Arts (SAA). She’s smart but often gets lost in her own thoughts. Will . Sixth Year boy at SAA. Works with Kei on the cases. He loves food and is often hungry. Professor Felicity Nora . Professor of Toy Criminology at SAA. She’s determined to stop the Perplexity Gang. (See below.) Agent Anna Swift . Works for the Odd Crimes Department of the International Toy Police

(TOYPOL). Perplexity Gang. A small group of daring toy thieves. They can strike anywhere.

WELCOME TO NEW TOY-KO CITY All the action takes place in the 3rd District of New Toy-ko City. New Toy-ko City is the capital of the world’s toy industry. Millions of dollars worth of toys and toy designs are bought and sold here every day. The city was founded 150 years ago, just after the start of the Great Toy Revolution. Which happened after the Universal Toy Declaration was signed by all the countries at the United Nations, pledging to use toy technologies to create a better world. New Toy-Ko City is where you’ll

find all the best brains in toy tech. And wealthy toy collectors. And toy criminals too, up to no good.

START HERE [ 01 ] Day 1 9:34 am Place: School of Amusement Arts. This morning’s class is Toy History, by Mr Nogambe. Kei is fascinated. Mr Nogambe’s teaching them about shadow puppets. His voice is deep and rumbling. The first time ever that Kei heard him speak, she couldn’t help thinking of a gigantic elephant

snoring gently in the shade. “Shadow puppets are one of the oldest toys in the world,” Mr Nogambe says. “Children twisted twigs into animal shapes, and held these in front of a fire. Can you imagine the fantastic creatures that appeared on their cave walls?” Kei is busy already, making up these images in her head. Kei has twenty or so questions. But she can’t decide which one to ask first. She decides to put up her hand anyway. But then she sees Will suddenly appear outside the door. He’s hopping up and down in excitement.

His face says he has something important to tell her. Will pulls out his phone and texts her. BZZZZZZZZZZ. Kei’s phone jumps in her pocket. The message: “Professor has a big case for us!”

~ How thrilling! Go see Professor Nora first thing after class >>

[ 02 ] Day 1 10:12 am Kei and Will are in Professor Nora’s office. Lots of unusual toys everywhere. And stacks of books and files about the Perplexity Gang. Professor Nora says, “Mr Richard Beetle is a famous toy collector. You’ve probably heard of his online store, Rich Beetle Toy Emporium.” Kei and Will nod. “Someone stole his Chatter Blocks,” Professor Nora says.

“He’s asked us to get them back.” Will is puzzled. “Uh, Chatter Blocks?” Kei’s writing all this down. Her pen flies furiously across the notebook page. “What are those?” Kei asks. “No idea,” Professor Nora admits. “You two visit Mr Beetle and investigate. Can I trust you with this case?”

~ Yes, go see Mr Beetle right away >> ~ Why not interview Mr Beetle’s neighbours first, they might know something >>

[ 06 ] Day 1 11:32 am In Mr Beetle’s basement study. He has a curly moustache. Light blue shirt. Purple suspenders. And a strange cough too. It sounds like this, “Krrf! Krrf.” “While I was out yesterday afternoon,” he says, “the thief broke a glass pane and unlocked the back door. Then she came downstairs and stole my Chatter Blocks.” “What are Chatter Blocks, sir?” Will asks. He’s dying to know.

Kei too. “Six-sided blocks,” he says, “about two inches high, with tiny bells inside. Invented in Egypt ages ago. Very rare these days.” Mr Beetle shows them a video about the Blocks. “Each bell produces a syllable,” the video explains. “Like HUH or GOR or DUH or SOH. When the Blocks are rolled, like dice, the bells inside get knocked around. You hear a string of syllables, like a spoken phrase or sentence. Sometimes it’s nonsense, but sometimes you actually make out the words. It can give very profound advice.”

Kei and Will exchange glances. What a fantastic toy. Kei tries to imagine the things it might say to her. Will recalls that Mr Beetle had said “she” when referring to the thief. He asks, “Sir, do you suspect anyone in particular?” Mr Beetle roars, “Madam Polly Blavs!”

~ Return to school and tell Professor Nora >> ~ Question the neighbours >>

[ 09 ] Day 1 11:45 am Kei and Will walk around the neighbourhood. They look out for clues. A boy rides his unicycle past them. He does a few tricky stunts to show off, like spinning his unicycle around and cycling backwards in a circle. There’s no one else around. But Kei has an uncomfortable feeling. Like there’s someone watching them. “Seems like a peaceful street,”

Kei says. “Nothing suspicious here. Let’s go see Mr Beetle, shall we?” Will grabs her arm. He points at a house across the street. “That woman in the window!” Will says. “If she was looking out like this yesterday, she might have spotted something.” Will runs over, before Kei can stop him. * Ten minutes later, Kei and Will are seated in the woman’s kitchen. She serves them cold chocolate

milk and her special homemade chocolate chip cookies. “My son’s favourite!” she says. “I can always make him a new batch.” The woman introduces herself as Mrs Silva. The day before, she saw Mr Beetle go out, come back, go out again in a hurry, and return two hours later. While he was away, a woman and a man came to see him. But the housekeeper was busy, so they went around the back. Kei thinks the cookies taste horrible. Will finishes them anyway.

~ Kei and Will go to talk to more neighbours >> ~ Stay and ask more questions about what Mrs Silva saw >>

END OF EXCERPT Like to start over? Thanks for reading! The full ebook will be available soon.

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